Typical Conservative Republican...They look down their noses at the working people that do their dirty work..

Those firefighters do dangerous work for $8 to $12 bucks an hour and this stuffed shirt asshole questions their work...

Read the story and see the contempt with which he holds working people...

The phony minimum wage bill to be voted tomorrow is a prime example...It takes away the rights of STATES to make their own minimum wage

The Republicans want to transfer all the wealth to a FEW very rich people... Look at the Republican scandals with Abramoff etc and the kind of money this Congressman and Senators are making off their connections...

America needs a change and soon...

And most of the CONS here on the DRUDGE are the same...The look down their noses at the poor and workers...but I know that most of them don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of...They are just mean and nasty individuals...

If anyone has a link to the conference call and Burns smart ass remarks afterwards please post it....Scarey


A videotape obtained and circulated by the Democratic Party shows that when the conference call ended, Burns turned to officials in the room and said, "that's the way to shut that down ... that works."

You know what is Funny. The Republican conservatives bitch and moan when we talk about things like Raising the Minimum wage And to help Provide for the Healthcare of the working poor but Yet they expect the Fire Department to be there when they are needed, The Police Department when they are needed, Their Fast food done right the first time. Etc etc etc. But yet they are unwiling to pay the working poor something they can live on. It is such an utter disgrace it's pitiful.

Larry

Larry this minimum wage "trick" should concern every American...It will LOWER the wages of working people in 7 states who have a higher minimum wage...

The Republicans are just SCRUM, plain and simple...all to get a bowl full of tax cuts for the richest Americans...

"Those firefighters do dangerous work for $8 to $12 bucks an hour"

You are so full of shit, Scared_E. I have 2 firefighters in the family who started at $37K and were making well over $50K within 5 years. You continually spout nonsense on topics you know nothing about. For the record, Burns is a piece of shit, but there's no reason to make things up to trash him, he's done enough on his own.

The following is my "Do Not Reply" list, for posting inaccurate salary information instead of reasonable figures:

Scared_E,

This bastard's time is up. Go enjoy your retirement on a government pension and let someone in touch with reality take over.

"In 1999, Burns issued a written apology after referring to Arabs as "rag heads" during a speech while commenting on oil prices. In 1994, Burns repeated a story that included the word "niggers" and commented that living with blacks in Washington, D.C., was "a hell of a challenge." He also onced asked a woman who was wearing a nose ring what tribe she belonged to.

Last year, the senator denied a flight attendant's claim that he told her she could "go home and be a mother" if her airline job were eliminated."

An absolute class act here, yes indeed.

Joe,

You are so full of shit, Scared_E. I have 2 firefighters in the family who started at $37K and were making well over $50K within 5 years.

You at it again, what type of fire fighters is the article talking about and what type of fire fighter are you talking about.

Read and understand the link sometime, it might show that your really not that ignorant.

Last year, the senator denied a flight attendant's claim that he told her she could "go home and be a mother" if her airline job were eliminated."

What is funny about this or rather sad in reality is this is the true thoughts of the repofundies to a tee. Burns is showing their true colors.

"go home and be a mother" if her airline job were eliminated."

So what Burns is really saying is he is supporting the rightwing Christian zealots by telling the women to be fruitfull and multiply, women should know their place in society.

Also, freetrade is good and so what if America loses their jobs that's what the corporations are paying us repofundies for.

Crassus, I'm talking about the kind of firefighter that puts out fires. Show me proof that these men make $8-12/hour, or cease obsessing with me. Your choice.

Joe,

Crassus, I'm talking about the kind of firefighter that puts out fires. Show me proof that these men make $8-12/hour, or cease obsessing with me. Your choice.

Really, Well just incase you didn't know there are basically two types of firefighter in the back woods area of the northwest. You see we have forests here not cement.

One group who is like your family fights fires for city and county, houses, buildings and such.

Another group is part time and fights forest fires during peak times during the summer, usually they are also in training for the city jobs.

I am not sure but I thought most knew this but by your return post I am taking the side of you did not know this.

or cease obsessing with me. Your choice.

I am tired of your blatant ignorance and then fall back on word play.

You think your solipsism would not be followed to all parts of the country and world for that matter.

OMG, Joe, haven't you had enough of being wrong all the time?

Maybe you can attack one of these firefighters for owning imaginary Jenny Craig stock.

this may cost him the election
its kind of funny, all the hard work a man puts into his job...then this

When I read about Senator Burns self inflicted political injury I was remind when about fifteen years ago a wise man once told me that I would have a long and successful career if I could just learn to stop stepping on my own dick.

solipsism Show phonetics
noun [U] SPECIALIZED
the belief that only one's own experiences and existence can be known with certainty

I know what the word means. Your sentence did not make sense.

I know what the word means. Your sentence did not make sense.

I can take that hit, it is rather poorly done. Sorry, I graduated from the 3rd grade with that one.........LOL!

Another group is part time and fights forest fires during peak times during the summer, usually they are also in training for the city jobs.

Posted by Crassus at 2006-08-03 10:44 PM | Reply

So these are part-time firefighters? Unskilled and in training. And they bitch about making $12 an hour? Most interns would kill for that kind of paycheck.

You get paid for what you are capable of doing.

Good point vernon. Although now in Chicago, unskilled workers at wal-mart make just $2/hour less than that.

Vern,

So these are part-time firefighters? Unskilled and in training. And they bitch about making $12 an hour? Most interns would kill for that kind of paycheck.

You get paid for what you are capable of doing.

I don't know about you but your not very capable at addressing this issue. I can see it clearly by this idiotic post.

Part time because the forests generally do not burn down with 2 feet of snow on the ground but I am not a city slicker who lacks this kind of seasonal knowledge.

They are quite skilled at what they do, some go on to fire fighting for the cities but most move to become Forest rangers and such.

The work they do is so difficult you could not possibly handle it, the pay is not reflective of the actual work they do. But walking up and down the street and taking the elevator instead of digging trenches on rocky steep canyons is does not lend well to your understanding.

Damn those firefighters anyway!

Using trickery to make a fine statesman tell us how he feels. Thank God he wasn't angry though, just frustrated, according to his unapologetic apology.

So rather than acknowledging the boneheadedness of his comments, let's denigrate the firefighters because they don't make much money.

Best of all possible worlds.

Time Out!! We need to straighten a few things out:

Sen. Burns: "The firefighters did a piss poor job."
Vernon: "You get paid for what you are capable of doing."

So the Senator feels the low wage workers are shitty, and Vernon agrees, for what do you expect of low wage workers. If they weren't shitty, they wouldn't be low wage, right?

So, it seems to me, that if the Senator is pissed off the firefighters didn't do a better job...
Then the Sen, being a United States Senator, and a man of some influence, should have authored a bill to pay the firefighters more money.

Then they wouldn't be so shitty and wouldn't have done a piss poor job.

Really, Sen. Burns has no one to blame but himself.

And P.S. Vernon,

No firefighter was quoted bitching about their $12 an hour salary for risking their lives.

Don't put words in their mouths, please.

I say pay them $1000 an hour. Deficits don't matter, so jack up all the salaries.

Some of these posts are so depressing it makes me wonder why I try...

Some of these firefighting units are very highly trained, and they are described by there superiors as "crack" units...

Not all of them are part time...but they increase ranks in the summer do to more fires....

This is a dirty dangerous jobs...Non of these boys and girls were complaining about their jobs... CONRAD BURNS was doing the usual Republican behavior of blaming the soldiers instead of the Generals....

And frankly, JOE and VERNON just couldn't wait to enter the attack against the firefighters and other posters instead of looking at and discussing the facts...

This is why I speak about the "personal attack" posters here...It doesn't seem to be the subject of the post or the thread they go after...they seem to be here to make personal attacks against other posters....

From an Editorial in "Montana Standard", hardly a bastion of liberalism...


"So why under the backdrop of an airport in Eastern Montana, bash the brave men and women on loan to us whose only responsibility on the fire was to take orders?" he said. "... I don't think most Montanans would turn their back on a firefighting crew willing to help out, regardless of the outcome. It's too bad Senator Burns doesn't share that mentality anymore." The whole episode makes Burns look both foolish and mean-spirited. It also comes on the heels of a very tough Senate race. His campaign has been dogged by allegations linking him to convicted super lobbyist Jack Abramoff which has hurt both his reputation and his poll standings

While it is admirable that he stood up for his Montana constituents, the senator certainly knows better than to bawl out front-line firefighters -- who make $8 to $12 an hour -- rather than address his concerns to the proper administrators who actually have control over the matter.

These firefighters were members of the Augusta, Va., Hot Shots...

"frankly, JOE and VERNON just couldn't wait to enter the attack against the firefighters"

Show me where I attacked the firemen. Let's see it, Scared_E.

Another group is part time and fights forest fires during peak times during the summer, usually they are also in training for the city jobs.

Posted by Crassus at 2006-08-03 10:44 PM | Reply

So these are part-time firefighters? Unskilled and in training. And they bitch about making $12 an hour? Most interns would kill for that kind of paycheck.

You get paid for what you are capable of doing.

Posted by vernon at 2006-08-03 11:27 PM | Reply | Flag: Flag: (Choose)
FunnyNewsworthyOffensiveAbusiv
e

Good point vernon. Although now in Chicago, unskilled workers at wal-mart make just $2/hour less than that.

Posted by JOE at 2006-08-03 11:33 PM | Reply | Flag: Flag: (Choose)
FunnyNewsworthyOffensiveAbusiv
e

I wonder what the 343 would think of you and Vernon's comments, Joe?

I must have missed where that proved that I was "attacking the firefighters." I have nothing but respect for firemen. My brother and stepdad are both firemen. I would never say anything denigrating toward them, and I haven't.

Joe,
After Vernon took his shots at these firefighters, you said, "Good point vernon. Although now in Chicago, unskilled workers at wal-mart make just $2/hour less than that." Which "good point" were you acknowledging, i.e., that the firefighters were "unskilled", bitching about earning $12 per hour, earning pay interns would kill for, or getting paid for what they were capable of doing? Vernon's points all sound denigrating to me.

Thanks Seabiscuit, the firefighters at the airport were certainly not bitching about their pay rates...Vernon just threw that in as a diversion and an attack on working people...Vernon doesn't work so he has a problem with others who do so...

I would ask the same question you did...Which point was Joe referring to.

I was agreeing that most interns (people in training) would kill for that kind of money. It was more of a lead into my wal-mart comment than anything else. I didn't mean to agree with anything he said directly about the firemen. None of them were bitching about their salaries anyway, so he was wrong.

Joe,
I hate to break this to you, but that very point Vernon made was in context to the firefighter supposedly bitching about the $12 per hour, i.e., that firefighters were bitching about pay that interns would kill for. If your intention wasn't to denigrate firefighters, you screwed the pooch on this one. A beer at Sluggers in Wrigleyville will set things right, however.

No pooch has been screwed. I merely agreed that interns would kill for that kind of money. That has nothing to do with denigrating firefighters, and none of my other posts in this thread would indicate that I have anything against firefighters. Wrigleyville is for losers, the Cubs blow.

Burns seems like a guy who would be much better off now if someone had stomped his ass years ago for being an arrogant, elitist little shit.